This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.
Longmont City Council unanimously agreed to pass resolution R-2017-95, which supports the extension of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program, during last night's city council meeting.
Councilmember Christensen had originally asked council members to add a DACA resolution to a future agenda during the September 12, 2017, city council meeting.
"We in Longmont have found DACA recipients to be important and well-respected members of our community, and many Longmont businesses depend upon them as valued employees," the resolution states.
Laura Soto, a Longmont resident and DACA recipient who has been in the US since she was six months old, spoke to council when the public was invited to speak and asked them "to please pass the resolution of DACA."
"What President Trump did, [by rescinding] the DACA program with his executive authority, was to put all of us in danger of being kicked out of our country and separated from our family," said Soto. "I was not born in the United States but this is my country. This is where I have grown up. This is where I have raised my children. I have raised them the best that I can. And I have served my community."
"As city council members you all are elected officials and have the obligation to stand up for our community members," said Sonia Marquez, who has lived in Longmont her entire life. "By you taking a position on this resolution and the DREAM act, sends a very strong message to our congress, to our President, that we care. And that we want these young people here, that they belong here."
The resolution calls "on all governmental, business and nonprofit agencies and institutions in Longmont as well as our surrounding municipalities and counties, to come together to urge the Trump Administration to keep the DACA program in place, ensuring protection of these young people."
According to the City of Longmont, resolutions express policy of the council or direct administrative actions. Public hearings are not required for a resolution to pass.
To read the resolution in full, please see below:
